Draft abridged Water Shortage Contingency Plan templates for small water suppliers open for public input

Public Notice

Draft abridged Water Shortage Contingency Plan templates for small water suppliers open for public input

The California Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) are pleased to announce a 32-day public comment period for the draft abridged Water Shortage Contingency Plan templates for small water suppliers (1,000-2,999 connections) and those water systems that are schools. The co-development of the templates by the state agencies is required by Section 10609.60(b) of the California Water Code by December 31, 2022. Small suppliers must develop and maintain, onsite, an abridged Water Shortage Contingency Plan by July 1, 2023 to be posted by the supplier to its website or made available upon request, following Section 10609.60(a) of the California Water Code. Plans are to be updated every five years. The two state agencies co-hosted two webinars on September 30 presenting each of these draft templates for the newly required abridged Water Shortage Contingency Plan.

• Draft water shortage contingency plan template for small community water systems serving 1,000-2,999 is available here: Draft Template WSCP for 1000-2999 Connections
• Draft water shortage contingency plan template for water systems that are schools (non-transient non-community water systems) is available here: Draft Template WSCP for Schools

Two webinars presenting the separate templates were held on September 30, 2022.

• Water Shortage Contingency Plan Template Input Workshop for Small Water Systems (1000-2999 connections)
  • Webinar recording: https://youtu.be/WAlOg_anAa0
• Water Shortage Contingency Plan Template Input Workshop for Schools with a Water System
  • Webinar recording: To be posted soon

The 32-day public comment period began on September 30, 2022 and will close at 5:00pm on October 31, 2022. Please submit your comments on the draft templates to the State Water Board at michelle.frederick@waterboards.ca.gov (please include subject of Water Shortage Contingency Plan comments) or mail them to:

State Water Board

1 Lower Ragsdale Dr, Suite 120

Monterey, CA 93940

 

Background

SB 552 (passed in September 2021) requires small water suppliers – defined as those with fewer than 3,000 connections and serve fewer than 3,000 acre feet – to have an abridged water shortage contingency plan, annually report their water supply conditions and use by month, and upgrade their infrastructure to drought resilient standards, if needed. DWR and the State Water Board are working together to develop a template for the abridged water shortage contingency plan by December 2022. For more information, see: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use-And-Efficiency/SB-552.

DWR and the State Water Board have co-hosted three public webinars on the SB 552 small water supplier water shortage contingency plan template development. The times, agendas, and recording links to these public virtual meetings is listed below:

Next Steps

Following public input, finalized templates will be posted on DWR’s website here: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use-And-Efficiency/SB-552. General trainings will be offered in Winter 2023, followed by opportunities for publicly hosted questions and answers events in Spring 2023.

To receive email notifications about trainings, other SB 552-related events and other news, sign up here or scan the QR code below.